Legacy

by Sleep Sonata

Archive

The sounds of horns were distant now, but the huffing and panting was constant as Starry Night galloped, jumping logs and ducking under branches as she penetrated deeper into the forrest. She couldn’t run forever, she needed shelter. Not even an alacorn such as she could defend herself from whatever wildlife stalked at night.

As the thought crossed her mind, she spotted a old farmhouse; with a light on inside. “Praise the Stars! I hope they’re not another outpost.” Starry mustered the last of her strength in a dash to the house. The wound on her wing was taking it’s toll. She was barely staying conscious. Her legs gave out just as she reached the porch. The sound of hoofsteps was comforting for once.

As the darkness crept in around her eyes, the shape of a pony opened the door and looked down at her. Starry struggled to lift her head, but managed to peak “I...Starry Night. Help.” Then darkness.

Starry felt herself being gently shaken. Buttercup’s quiet voice called out to her. “Miss Night, are you okay? You looked liked you were having night terrors.” Starry’s eyes snapped open, and she quickly rolled over to face Buttercup and Honey Suckle standing over her.

Honey looked very concerned. “You gave us quite a fright, dear. You were thrashing so hard, we had to hold you down.” Starry just stared at them both, panting as if she really had run like she had in her dream.

“I remembered part of the night you found me. It wasn’t a lot, all I remember was that I was being chased by something, but I’d lost it by the time I found your house. I have no idea what I was running from.” Starry awaited a response from the other ponies, but her explanation seemed to give more questions than answers.

“Honey told me her side of that night,” Buttercup explained. “are you sure there wasn’t a detail that might hint at what you might have been running from?”

Starry thought hard, picking through every aspect of the dream. Then she realized, “I remember when I saw Honey’s house, I was relieved that it wasn’t a military post of some kind. Maybe that’s who was chasing me.”

“If that was true, then we would see wanted posters of you all over the city.” Buttercup stated. “Unless it wasn’t our military that was chasing you. But how could that be?”

Honey spoke up now. “That’s the only explanation. I don’t know who, but It’s our only hint, so let’s pursue it.” The three mares nodded in agreement. Starry threw off the covers and hopped out of bed, but when the sun hit her eyes, it was blinding, to the point where she couldn’t see anything but light. Reflexively, she shut her eyes ducked out of the sun’s rays.

The only pony not startled by the reaction was Buttercup, who threw a cloak over Starry as she huddled in a corner, hooves over her eyes. As soon as the cloak was on, a shield for her eyes, the pain disappeared. “From what I’ve read, thestrals are very sensitive to sunlight. You’ll need this to be outside during the day.” Apparently, Starry wasn’t quite finished learning about herself.

Once outside, it still took Starry a while to adjust to the brightness, but it had turned into a rainy day, which helped keep things dimmer, and gave her an excuse to wear the cloak. When she could see, she suddenly realized that cities are filled with other ponies! If what Buttercup said was true, she needed to keep a low profile.

“This way.” Buttercup began to walk down the street. “The University library isn’t far from here. We should be there very quickly.” Honey and Starry followed her down the street. This walk too seemed to take no time at all for Starry. She could finally observe what normal ponies do during the day. They ran their shops, bought their food, and took little fillies out to play. It was peaceful, but at the same time, sad for her. No pony can know the future, but Starry knew she could never have the life that these ponies did.

Honey took notice of Starry’s depression, and gave her a gentle bump on the should. “Chin up, sugar cube. We’re gonna find you everything you need to know, even if it takes a thousand moons.”

“Thank you, Honey.” Starry replied. “But I have to wonder, seeing all these ponies, will I want to be what Buttercup says I am?” Her mood hadn’t improved much.

“Dear, That’s just your outside. It’s not who you are. What you do and what you live for is all up to you. Don’t you let anypony tell you any different.” After that speech, Starry couldn’t understand why Honey’s cutie mark wasn’t a smile.

“Right here.” Buttercup pointed over across the street. The building itself was a monument to the past. Starry didn’t know what the style was, but it definitely stood in stark contrast to the surrounding buildings. “The Ancient Lore is in the basement, so nopony will notice us.” Starry could barely hear her soft voice over the city ambience.

The interior of the Library appeared to be inspired by the exterior, though nopony seemed to want to enjoy it; the whole place only had a dozen or so ponies. The basement was completely abandoned, and it had far more books. Starry was genuinely dumbfounded. “How come nopony is down here? There’s a lot of information.”

Buttercup just shrugged her shoulders as they walked down the aisles. “Most think there isn’t anything down here worth reading. All of the most frequently requested material is upstairs.” Her soft voice was now the perfect volume for the library. “Only real snoops look for books down here.”

“I guess if your not a stranger to yourself, you don’t need a library.” Starry joked. Honey let out a brief snicker, and buttercup just turned around to smile.

“I think this is the section we need.” Buttercup flapped her wings and began hoofing through the books, slowly drifting down the shelves. “Let’s see; Ancient history. and we want... This one! Equestrian Lore and Myths.”

Starry was puzzled. “I’m a myth?” She almost took it as an insult. “I thought this would tell us who I am, not tell a story.”

“Actually, nopony in our time has ever seen, let alone met, a thestral. This book has all the information available on you.” Buttercup, dragged the mighty book off the shelf, the weight nearly brought her crashing to the floor. She descended as fast as she safely could, and threw the book down on the table in front of Starry. A plume of dust puffed when it landed forcing Honey and Starry to cough.

“Well, it knows more than I do right now. Let’s get to it.” She lifted the cover, and the musky smell of the ages wafted upwards. She scanned the index for ‘thestral’. She found it fairly quickly, located on page 642. Her anticipation was building unbearably, when she finally found the page, she simply slammed her head on the desk.

Honey was behind her, but couldn’t quite read over her shoulder. “What’s wrong dear? What did you find?”

“Nothing.” Starry replied, in a monotonous tone. “Absolutely nothing.”

“What?” Buttercup stood at perfect attention. She flew over to read for herself.

Starry lifted her head, and both the other ponies could see her disparaging frown. “All it says is what you were telling me yesterday. ‘They were all banished beyond the Hadrian Mountains by Princess Celestia, never to return’. It doesn’t say when or why.”

Honey was looking for ways to improve the situation. “Are there any other books, Butters?”

Buttercup flew up to the shelves again, looking each and every book over for something that would relate to bat ponies. “Nothing. That’s the only one.”

Starry stood up and began to walk away. Honey was still trying to think of a solution when she noticed. “Starry, where are you going.” Starry turned around, her expression of despair had transformed into one of determination.

“I’m going to the Hadrian Mountains.”